Thursday, November 24, 2011

She kept it all in the family.
After Colombo crime-family soldier Dino “Little Dino” Saracino was busted by the FBI in 2008, his wife, April, took over his loan-sharking operation and kept the street money flowing, Brooklyn federal prosecutors charged in court documents yesterday.
And she took to it like a pro, tapes secretly recorded by an FBI informant show.
Although the feds haven’t charged her, prosecutors suggest April Saracino is a “co-conspirator” deeply involved in the intricacies of running a Mafia “shylock” business.
“April Saracino was directly involved in Dino Saracino’s loan-sharking operation . . . by assisting in the collection of loan-shark debts,” Assistant US Attorney Liz Geddes wrote to a federal judge.

SHARK TANK: Jailed mob “shylock” Dino Saracino.

“She knowingly profited from [Dino] Saracino’s loansharking business, which, in turn, was facilitated by [his] Colombo family membership.”
Her hubby even appeared to coach her on how to run the family business should “anything . . . happen” to land him in jail, prosecutors said.
“April Saracino informed [an FBI cooperator] which loanshark customers of Saracino would continue to pay their debt [and] inquired whether [the cooperator’s] brother was still a loan-sharking customer,” prosecutors noted.
Another tape allegedly has the wife warning that one big debtor was up to his ears and had better “come through” — and boasts that she has her hubby’s little black book of loan-shark customers.
The feds say they plan to use April Saracino’s alleged activities to build a case against her husband, who is awaiting trial on a variety of charges — including the allegation that he helped murder an off-duty NYPD officer who had married a mobster’s ex-wife.
Dino Saracino’s brother, mobster-turned-informant Sebastiano “Sebby” Saracino, is expected to testify for the prosecution.
Experts say the wives of wiseguys still tend to stay away from their husbands’ illicit activities, but “more and more are getting involved,” a source said.
Take Alicia DiMichelle — another Colombo mob wife facing legal problems in similar circumstances.
DiMichelle is an equal partner with her husband, Edward “Tall Guy” Garofalo Jr., according to the feds.
Brooklyn feds say the “mobette” — a 38-year-old mother of three — helped the Colombos embezzle union pension and benefit-plan money while working at mob-controlled construction companies.
Experts say when mob wives do play roles in their gangster guys’ activities, it tends to be peripheral — like having homes or cars placed in their names to avoid seizure.
But when the ladies of the underworld are prosecuted for helping their husbands, some defense attorneys believe the cases have more strategic than legal importance.
“It’s quite possible that the government would choose to prosecute a wife on marginal charges to gain a strategic advantage and leverage over her husband,” said one defense lawyer who has represented reputed mobsters.